Typewriting machine attachment



July 24, 1951 B. EDWARDS TYPEWRITING MACHINE ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 7, 1947 ||||l||l lillitfL WQ EG sul IN VEN TOR.

atented .u'ly f24, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITING MACHINEATTACHMENT Bartlett Edwards, San Antonio, Tex.

Application February 7, 1947, Serial No.y 726,978 2 Claims. (C1. 84-423)This invention relates to typewriting machine attachments and to musicalinstruments, and it has for its principal object the provision of amechanical-electrical attachment for typewriting machines whereby thekeyboards of typewriting machines are utilized for the playing of music.

This invention is of the nature of an attachment exactly dimensioned toiit typewriting machines in a congruent manner, and in such a relationthereto, separate moveable devices of the attachment, carrying aiiixedelectrical contacts, engage corresponding typewriter key -levers whosekeys on the typewriter keyboard, when depressed in the usual typingoperation, will move the engaged movable devices and their aiixedelectrical contacts to close with other corresponding electricalcontacts thereby completing separate electrical sub-circuits of aspecially designed vacuum tube multivibrator which is connected to anyconventional vacuum tube audio amplifier with loudspeaker.

More clearly, the aforementioned separate electrical sub-circuits of themultivibrator together with the main multivibrator circuit are designedto create electrically, in the multivibrator, either a reasonablefacsimile, or by carefully engineered electrical components in themultivibrator, an exact facsimile of the true timbre of the tonesproduced by any of the conventional musical instruments such as theorgan, violin, saxophone, flute, etc.. the whistle from human lips;particularly, the tones of one or more of the conventional musicalinstruments requiring accompaniment.

Further, the aforementioned separate electrical sub-circuits of themultivibrator are designed with a separate control which may be manuallyvaried to tune each sub-circuit to the exact frequency of one of thesuccessive tones of the conventional musical instruments.

n My invention resides precisely in the combination of relative partsincluded in the new and useful mechanical-electrical typewriting machineattachment described in detail in this speciilcation; my inventionexcludes the associated typewriter, multivibrator and audio amplier withloudspeaker.

The principle of the typewriting machine attachment is clearly evident,to anyone skilled in the science, from this specification wherein iscontained one of the best modes of applying the principle to provide thetypist with an instrument for reproduction of the tones of, and tuningwith, one or more of the conventional musical instruments.

In making use of the invention attached mechanically to a typewritingmachine and properly connected electrically to a specially designedmultivibrator for creating musical tones of a delinite timbre, ortimbres, and electrically connected to an amplier and loudspeaker, thetypist tunes the instrument, with reference to the tones of theconventional musical instrument, whose timbre is reproduced by themultivibrator, by bringing respective tones of the multivibratorsub-circuits into sympathetic vibration with the successive tones of theconventional musical instrument merely by variation of the appropriatemanual control of the separate sub-circuits of the multivibrator. Afterthus tuning the typewriter keyboard, the typist procures a copy of sheetmusic, for example, sheet music written for the violin, and he writesupon the sheet music, and adjacent to the violin notes thereon, theletters or punctuation marks of the typewriter keys producing therespective violin notes, and he plays the consecutive notes of the sheetmusic from the typewriter keyboard, utilizing his dexterity as a typist.

As a specific example of the use of my invention, namely, thetypewriting machine attachment, electrically connected to a speciallydesigned multivibrator wherein is produced the timbre of the whistlefrom human lips, and the separate sub-circuits tuned, by reference tothe piano keyboard, to any octave represented on the piano, the typistmay literally whistle upon the typewriter keyboard from sheet music, anytune with which he is familiar. He is limited only by his typing skillwhich he may be induced, by they invention, to improve.

There is incorporated in the object and nature of the invention, aparticular utility of the typewriter keyboard in an arrangement for thegreatest facility in thus operating the same. In this connection, theparticular arrangement shown herein procures a utility wherein theprincipal alphabetical notes of the musical octave are made by vthe keysof the typewriter with the same alphabetical notation, except for theupper eighth note of the octave; for example, for the principal notes onthe musical stave A, B, C, D, E, F, G, utility is made of the keys onthe typewriter of these same letters, and for the principal eighth noteC', utility is made of the V typewriting key whose position isimmediately .to the right, or, in regard to a piano keyboard, above C onthe typewriter keyboard; all of the above mentioned typewriter keys arestruck by iingers of the left hand. Further, the particular arrangementshown herewith the principal notes, thereby simplifying the` I processof note finding on the typewriter. This particular arrangement obtainsan inherent corelation between typewriting machine keyboards andexisting standards in music with the resulting ease of learning to playmusic from the typewriter keyboards and of learning to read sheet musicnotation, thereby facilitating the acquirement of a rudimentaryknowledge of music.

The object and nature of my invention is shown further in a briefdescription or the several views .of the drawngs: Figure 1 is a top viewof one design of the typewriting machine attachment whose moveabledevices are spaced and shaped to be actuated by certain keys of thetypewriting machine shown as A, E, D, C, F, V, G, B, H, N, I, K, andFigure 2 shows the right side view of Figure 1; showing the side view ofthe construction and arrangement of the parts composing the attachmentin this particular design. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken at 3-3 inFigure l showing the typewriting machine attachment in adjunct with thetypewiter; attached by using the holes in the frame for fastening thetypewriter to a desk; showing the congruent relationship of theattachment with typewriting machines and the function of the typewritingmachine key-levers associated with, and cooperat-` ing the moveabledevices and their electrical contacts when attachment is complete.Figure 4 shows the electrical connection of the attachment to thespecially designed vaccum tube multivibrator which provides in itsdesign for both the electrical waveform, or particular timbre, andvariation of the frequency, or tuning, of the tones of any arbitrarilychosen conventional musical instrument. As shown in Figure 5, byconnecting the multivibrator output to the input of any conventionalaudio amplier and loudspeaker, the output from the multivibrator isaudibly reproduced.

The following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description of thisinvention which will enable any person skilled in the art or science towhich the discovery appertains, to construct and use the same:

With reference to the attached drawings, Figures 1 and 2. show thedetailed construction of the typewriting machine attachment. Themoveable devices 2 are spaced, formed and notched for congruity andengagement with the typewriter key-levers of the keys A, B, C, D, E', F,G, for selection of the musical notes of these same letters, andkey-lever of key V for the upper eighth note in the musical octave; thetypewriter keylevers of the keys N, H, I, K and are for selection of theiiats associated with the above musical tones, thus obtaining a completeoctave as it is on the piano keyboard.

In Figure 1, the number 2 shows that the moveable devices are cut orstamped from a sheet of thin phosphor bronze metal, stainless steel, orother suitable metal, such that all of the moveable devices are part ofa common metal sheet located between the spacing plate 9 and thetypewriting machine frame, as in Figure 3. Shown in Figure 2 fixed tothe moveable devices are electrical contacts 3; immediately beneaththese contacts are the corresponding electrical contacts 4 which areinsulated from one another by being mounted on theinsulated-contact-plate 5, Figure 1. Individually insulated wiresconnected to each of the corresponding electrical contacts 4, shown as64 in Figure 3, and with the single insulated lead connected to themoveable device plate 2, labelled 63 in Figure 3, form a cable ofelectrical pairs which lead from each set of corresponding electricalcontacts to the respective variable tuning resistors AEDC etc., of themultivibrator shown in Figure 4.

The insulated-contact-plate 5, the spacingplate 9 and themoveable-device-plate 2, are fastened rigidly together by the machinescrews I0, Figures l and 2. Part of each of the three aforementionedplates extend right and left in Figure 1 with holes 1 through thempermitting the thumb-screws lIi to fasten the attachment to thetypewriter frame in the holes I I in the typewriter frame as shown inFigure 3.

In Figure 3, depressing the typewriter key A lowers its key-lever KA,which constantly engages in the notch I, the moveable device 2, causingthe electrical contact 3 by the action of ilexation, to close with thecorresponding electrical contact 4. Closure of the electrical contactscompletes the electrical circuit shown in Figure "4 composed with thevariable tuning resistor'A which determines the frequency of thesubcircuit of the multivibrator within the range necessary forsuccessful tuning of this tone to'the A tone oi a given octave; forexample, the A tone of a given octave on the piano keyboard.

In order to get the tone to resemble `that ofthe violin, saxophone,organ; etc., or the whistle from the human lips, the values of theelectrical components in the multivibrator main circuit andsub-circuits'must be designed to contain certain electrical components;'for example, to produce the human whistlethe valuesof Cg and Cg', andthe values of Rg and Rg' are composed of lrelatively high values of Cgand Cg and relatively low values of Rg and Rg in 'order that themultivibrator produce the tones of the timbre of the whistle from thehuman lips;l after this has been accomplished, the resistor'A is variedtobring the tone into tune, for example with the A note of the middle Coctave of the piano keyboard. The Cg-Rg and the Cg-Rg components may bedesigned to contain a series-parallel combination of sub-components,depending upon the necessity in electrical design, in order to obtainranexact facsimile of true timbre. The multivibrator is normally stopped,when no key is depressed, bythe high negative bias, upon the grids ofthe vacuum tubes T and T', obtained from the high voltage supply Eb,Figurefl, through the high resistance -of-Rs. When a typewriter key isdepressed, normal grid bias is placed on the tubes T and T"and themultivibrator is instantly operative-at the pre-determined tone, and atthe frequency, associated with the particular typewriter key which-isdepressed. Audible reproduction from the multivibrator "is obtainedthrough amplification by electrical connection to any suitableconventional ampliiler and loudspeaker as shown in Figure 5. e l' Themultivibrator operates in the conventional oscillatory manner andtheelectrical circuit'is conventional except for (l) theintroduction-"of the variable tuning resistors shown in Figure 4 as AEDCetc., which notation corresponds to the key of the typewriter keyboardwith the same notation, and (2) the arrangement of the multivibratorcircuit into separate independent sub-circuits so that each is afunction of the separate moveable devices of the typewriting machineattachment co-operated by the separate keys on the typewriter keyboardin the usual typing operation and (3) the arrangement of themultivibrator circuits into more than one separate main circuit withsub-circuits. so that the tones of more than one conventional musicalinstrument may be produced in the same multivibrator and each may beselected as desired by switching as shown in Figure 4 by the electricalswitches with positions 1, 2, 3, in connection with C-g and Cg.

The above speciiications set forth the exact invention for which apatent is solicited and explains the principle thereof; however, theparticular design and configuration shown is considered merelythe bestmode in which I contemplate applying the principle of this invention. Itis apparent to anyone skilled in the art or science that there is morebreadth, and probably superiority, of design and arrangement not shownbut entailing no departure from the spirit of the invention. and it ismy desire to be limited only in this respect.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. In a typewriting machine attachment of the type described forselectively controlling musical tones created by a specially designedmultivibrator with amplifier and loudspeaker, the combination includinga moveable-deviceplate disposing a number of separate moveable devicescarrying separate electrical contacts, each of the said separatemoveable devices engaging and co-acting separately with a correspondingtypewriting machine key-lever which moves individually the separatemoveable device and its aflixed electrical contact when the typewriterkey associated with said key-lever is depressed in the usual typingoperation upon the keyboard; an insulated electrical-contact-platedisposing a number of corresponding electrical contacts with which eachof the moveable-device-electrical contacts is moved into closure by thetypewriting machine key-lever engaging and co-operating said moveabledevice when the associated typewriter key is depressed in the usualtyping operation upon the keyboard; a spacing-plate between themoveable-device-plate and the insulated-contact-plate for obtaining anormal gap between the corresponding electrical contacts; an electricalcable of insulated electrical wires composed of a common wire connectedto the moveable-device-plate and one wire connected to each of theinsulated corresponding electrical contacts, thereby forming electricalpairs from each set of corresponding electrical contacts for connectionto corresponding tunable electrical sub-circuits of the speciallydesigned multivibrator; and mechanical fasteners for attachment of saidcombination to a typewriter.

2. In a typewriting machine attachment of the type described forselectively controlling musical tones created by a specially designedmultivibrator with amplifier and loudspeaker, an electromechanicalcombination including one electrical mechanism disposing a number ofseparate moveable mechanical devices having aflixed electrical contacts,each of said separate moveable mechanical devices engaging and co-actingseparately with a corresponding arbitrarily chosen typewriting machinekey-lever which moves said moveable device together with its alixedelectrical contact when the typewriting machine key associated with saidkey-lever is depressed in the usual typing operation upon the keyboard;another electrical mechanism disposing a number of electrical contactsto correspond with each of the moveable device electrical contacts, eachof said moveable device electrical contacts moveable into closure withits corresponding electrical contact by the engaged typewriter key-leverco-operating said moveable device carrying said electrical contact whenthe typewriter key associated with said key-lever is depressed in theusual typing operation upon the keyboard; an electrical cable composinga number of separately insulated wires connected to each of the moveableelectrical contacts and to each of the corresponding electricalcontacts, and the two wires connected to each pair of correspondingelectrical contacts for connection to a corresponding tunable electricalsub-circuit of a specially designed multivibrator; and mechanicalfasteners for attachment of this electro-mechanical combination to anytypewriter.

BARTLETT EDWARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 704,112 Robinson July 8, 19021,030,509 Ferguson June 25, 1912 2,159,491 Rose May 23, 1939 2,250,065Koehl July 22, 1941 2,301,184 Arnold Nov. 10, 1942

